Seven Days
by HyRool
Summary: As a group of friends are vacationing in the west coast, the unthinkable happens. The apocalypse strikes and the world as they know it is now shattered beyond repair. Will they overcome the undying nightmare or fall into the ranks of the undead?
1. Chapter 1- Prologue

Author's Note: Everything is original content. Don't flame!

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"Hey, wake up."

Sam kept his eyes closed, half-asleep, mostly annoyed. "No."

"Come on man. It's 6:30 in the morning! Daylight is burning!"

_6:30?! What the hell is wrong with him?_

Sam shifted himself up on the bed and sat up, leaning his back against the bedframe. He looked up and saw Paul, his longtime friend, leaning over the bed, excited. Sam and Paul was on a vacation with their friends for a reunion.

"What is it?" Sam asked, groggily. "It's 6:30 in the morning…"

"That's exactly the point!" Paul said, grinning widely. "We still gotta visit the Golden Gate Bridge after breakfast! Traffic is going to skyrocket around 10:00 so we should hurry!"

Rubbing his eyes, Sam sighed. "Who else is awake?"

"Just you and me."

Sam stared at Paul blankly. "Wake me up again after you wake everyone else up."

"Come on man, we are on a vacation. We have to enjoy it!" said Paul.

_Why does he always have to wake up people while they are in deep sleep?_

"Ok, I will get up after 5 more minutes," Sam told Paul.

"Fine, but only 5 minutes, ok?" said Paul.

_Whatever…. _

Sam fell right back asleep, and after 5 minutes of sleeping….

"Hey, wake up! 5 minutes past, everyone else is awake now," said Paul.

"Ok, ok. I'm getting up!" said Sam loudly, annoyed.

"Oh~, look who is annoyed," said Peter.

"Stop taunting him, Peter," said Eddie, as he patted Peter's back.

"Everyone let's stop talking and get ready so that we could go visit the Golden Gate Bridge after breakfast," said Paul.

"Ok, ok we get it already. You were telling us this ever since you woke all of us up," said Kenny, annoyed due to sleeping late last night. Everyone was getting ready for the trip when Paul realized.

"Where is Daniel? I thought I work everyone up, but I haven't seen Daniel getting ready."

"He's probably somewhere in the house still sleeping," said Philip.

"This little brat, always making people go and wake him up for the morning," said Paul. Paul went around the house looking for Daniel. He searched everywhere expect the balcony, which was not the place for anyone to fall asleep in. Just to make sure, Paul started his way out to the balcony to search for Daniel. When he looked out on the balcony, Daniel was there on the ground fast asleep with a pack of marijuana besides him. "Oh Lord, we gotta clean up this mess before anyone finds out," said Paul. "Daniel get up right now! Why do you always have to fuckin' make a mess for us to clean up?"

"Huh? What is going on here? I'm trying to sleep right now," moaned Daniel as he got up from the ground and wiped off the saliva from his face.

"Dude, we are on a vacation and here you are sleeping on the balcony after taking marijuana. Are you out of your mind?" questioned Paul.

"I'm sorry, but you know me. I can't have a good night sleep without them. I can't stop taking them!" said Daniel. "Having a vacation means doing the things I always do without anyone distracting or bothering me."

"Whatever man, hurry up and clean up all your mess before someone finds out about this. If you don't hurry up and get ready after that then we are going to leave you behind and go to the Golden Gate Bridge," said Paul.

"Man why does it have to be today? Why can't we just stay here and just rest? I thought that was what vacation was for," complained Daniel as he got up from the ground.

"Stop complaining and hurry up and get ready, or I am really gonna leave you here," said Paul, now annoyed from all the complaints that came from Daniel.

"Sigh, ok. I will get rid of all this mess and get ready," said Daniel as he cleaned up all the pack of marijuana that was on the ground. "Oh, so where are we going to?"

"Are you freakin' serious right now? I thought I told ya that we are going to visit the Golden Gate Bridge! Are you still high from smoking that trash marijuana?"

"Don't talk bad about Lady Mary Jane!" Daniel blabbered incoherently. "She… she is beautiful."

Peter peeked from behind Paul's back, looking at Daniel and his weed on the floor with interest.

"Can I… Can I have some?" Peter asked.

Paul glared at Peter. "You know what the doctors said Pete. You nearly died the last time when you blew about seven pounds of the 'Good Stuff' several months ago."

Peter sighed. "Don't remind me… I still get the chills when you mention that day to me… how I was rolled into the ER like that…" He looked at Paul. "Scared you shitless, didn't I?"

"You scared all of us shitless." Daniel said, struggling to still stand on his two feet. "Hell, even I stopped doing weed… for about two minutes…"

"That's just you." Paul said. "Anyway, Daniel, go get washed up. You smell like weed… I mean REALLY bad."

Daniel sniffed his sleeve. "It's not that bad…"

"YES IT'S BAD." The voices from inside the room cried out. "GO TAKE A SHOWER HIPPIE."

"And take it fast." Paul added. "We don't wanna wait any longer."

Paul closed the door behind him and sat down on the leather couch, straightening out his socks. He leaned back against the soft cushion of the couch, listening to ticking of the clock. Sam came into the room and leaned against the doorway.

"Say…" Sam began to say. "Did you hear any news from the girls? I didn't see 'em this morning."

"Nope, I heard nothing from them yet. I will make sure to message them to meet us by the Golden Gate Bridge," answered Paul.

"Alright, just make sure to bring some food for Faith. She will get mad if we don't bring any for her," Sam joked.

"Haha, got it."

"Hey guys! Can someone get me a towel from the drawer? I didn't know there were no towels in the bathroom!" yelled Daniel from the bathroom door.

"Andrew! Can you get some towel for Daniel? He has none in the bathroom," said Paul to the room next to him.

"Sigh, I got it," said Andrew as he came out of the room and walked towards the drawer for the towels. He took 2 towels out and threw it to the bathroom door. Hearing the towels slam against the door, Daniel's hand came out of the door and took the towel from the floor. Few minutes later, Daniel came out of the bathroom wearing only his checkered boxers and a towel over his shoulders.

"Now I feel refreshed. Guys let me put my cloths on let's head out for the bridge," said Daniel. He then went into his room and came out few minutes later, all ready to go.

"Ok guys, if everyone is ready, let's head on out," Paul said to group. Everyone grabbed their stuff and went out the door. After few minutes of driving to the bridge, Sam got a call from the girls.

"Hello?" said Faith through the phone.

"Hello. Hey Faith this is Sam. Where are you guys at? We are on our way to the bridge right now. We'll get there soon," answered Sam to the phone.

"Ok, we're also on our way there. Did you being extra food for me?" asked Faith.

"Hey Paul, did you pack those extra food for Faith?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, they should be in the truck," answered Paul from the driver's seat.

Sam grabbed the phone and said, "Yeah we got some extra food for ya."

"Yes! Thank you. We'll see you at the bridge then," said Faith as she hung up.

The ride to the bridge after the call was quiet. The girls arrived at the bridge 5 minutes later they arrived.

"Mornin' guys! Ready to start our vacation?" asked Paul.

"Yeah, I guess," said Joanne, "but I am kinda tired because of the late night sleep yesterday. Haha."

"Anyways, it's good to have all of us together again. How long has it been since we had a reunion? 2, 3 years?" said Sam.

"Yeah, it's good to see all of your faces," said Faith.

"Anyways, let's talk about our lives later or as we walk," said Peter, "we have to take some pictures and stuff..."

_Bang!_

"What the hell was that just now?" asked Daniel.

"I'm not sure, but that sounded like a gunshot," said Sam.

"Yeah, I agree with Sam. It was definitely a gunshot that we just heard," said Paul as he looked at the direction the sound came from.

"Guys, I think we should go over there and see what is going on," said Peter.

"Yeah, let's go and check," said Philip and Andrew.

The group started to walk over to where they heard the gun go off. When they came close to the site, they saw police cars surrounding the area and a body being dragged out of the area by a police. The body did not seem like it was a body killed a few minutes ago. It had wounds and dried blood all over the body and the skin was rotten and it was starting to fall apart.

"Dang. What happened here? What is with that body that they just dragged out? By the looks of it, it seems like the person was dead for close to 2 weeks. Also, that gunshot…." said Sam.

"Hey, hey! What are you kids doing around here? There is nothing to see here so go on your ways," said one of the officers who was passing by the group.

"You sure there is nothing wrong here? I don't like the sight of that body one of the officers dragged out," said Daniel.

"Daniel! Don't be rude. We're sorry officer. We'll move on right away," said Sam, pushing Daniel to the side.

_Something is not really right. I have to agree with Daniel, that body is suspicous. Why would a body was seems like it was dead for like 2 weeks here. Also the gunshot…._

The group started walking away from the site, some still with curiosity from the gunshot and the body. After few minutes later,

"Do you guys really that there is nothing wrong? I just can't get that picture of that body out of my mind," said Peter.

"I'm probably sure nothing big will happen. I mean, the officer did say it was nothing," said Eddie.

"Guys, I think we should just head back to the house and call it a day. With the gunshot and stuff happening, I think it will be more safe inside," said Kenny, who haven't been talking since they got off the car.

"Yeah, let's call it a day. I mean, we still have like 2 weeks of vacation left here," said Sam. The girls nodded and agreed to call it a day.

"Well, I guess we'll see you guys tomorrow," said Daniel, as they separated from the girls.

"Yeah. See ya guys tomorrow," said the girls.

The group arrived at the house few minutes later, and everyone got ready to go to sleep.

"Man, today sucks. All the plans we made were ruined!" said Paul as he went into his room.

"Yeah, but I mean what can we do? Weird things were happening," said Eddie.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

Everyone got into their beds to go to sleep. The lights were turned off and some of them fell alseep right away.

_I am still kinda worried about that body and the gunshot… Man, let's us sleep it off. I need to wake up early tomorrow since I know that Paul is going to wake me up early again._


	2. Chapter 2- Dawn of the Madness

Chapter 2- Dawn of the Madness

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_It's everywhere… Everything and everyone who gets in it's way… It attacks anything that gets in the way… The city is lost… There is going to be nothing left in the city for us… People who are listening to the radi… Please get to safety… There is nothing in this city for us… Please… Get to safet… _

It was late at night when this radio broadcast was on. The group, who had a long and weird day, was busy sleeping expect one person.

"What the hell is that person talking about? What thing? Is this a joke or something? What does he mean by there is nothing left in the city for us?" said Daniel, who woke up from a nightmare. "Is that even possible? In less than one day everything in the city is gone. I don't even like this joke, if it is a joke…."

_Am I suppose to believe this or what? I mean after what we saw today at the bridge, it's not impossible….. Omg, I don't know what I am suppose to do. Should I tell the others about this? Oh Lord, please tell me what I am suppose to do._

"Whatever, I'm probably sure it is not a big deal. Let's just sleep," said Daniel as he turned off the radio to sleep. Daniel fell asleep few minutes later after turning off the radio and heard the weird news.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_I wonder what time it is. I should get up and wake everyone else up. It's probably around 6 like always._

Paul woke up and looked at the time.

_5:30. It's a little earlier than usual, but I guess it doesn't make that much of a difference. I will just wash up and wake them up._

He went into the bathroom with his shirts and started washing himself up. Right after he went inside, he came complaining. "What the hell is wrong with the water? It's not water that is coming out but mud! How in the world am I suppose to wash up with mud?"

"What the hell is going on there Paul?" shouted Sam, who woke up from all the complaining. "It's not even 6:30 in the morning! Why do you have to be so loud?"

"It's the water, man. I'm sorry I was loud and everything, but mud is coming out instead of water. Don't you think this is weird?" Paul told Sam, as he wipped the remaining mud off his face.

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would mud come out instead of water? Stop joking around so early in the morning," said Sam, as he walked towards bathroom. He went inside and turned on the water. "What the hell is going on! It's really mud that is coming out! Paul, go and find out what the problem is. Oh, and go wake up the others as well."

"Yeah, I will go wake them up. Try not to get mud all over the place," said Paul as he went to the other rooms to wake up the others. "Everyone! Get up right now! We have some trouble with the bathroom."

"What the hell are you talking about? Why would there be trouble with the bathroom that was working fine last night?" asked Eddie.

"I don't know what happened, but it's true. Instead of water, mud is coming out. I was trying to wash up, but I had to stop because mud came out," answered Paul.

"Haha, good joke. How can the water that was coming out fine last night be coming out as mud? asked Peter.

"It's not a joke. If you wanna check it out yourself then go to the bathroom and look for yourself," answered Paul. "I gotta go and and find out what the hell the problem is."

_I should hurry up and find out what the problem is. Everyone needs to wash up, so we could finish the tour of the bridge that we couldn't finish yesterday._

Paul went out of the house the group was staying and walked towards the bathroom area. He searched around the bathroom for any broken water pipes.

_What the hell. There is no broken water pipes around the bathroom or the house. What could be the problem then? Did the water that is suppose to come from the city to us turn into mud? Ha. What am I thinking? That is not even possible… unless something is going on out there… I guess I should go search the internet for the answer._

"Did you find out what the problem was, Paul?" asked Sam as Paul walked into the house.

"Nope, nothing so far. I am thinking of searching for the answer on the internet. There could be something on the news or something."

"Ok, just hurry up and go find out what the problem is."

"Ok, ok. I get it."

As soon as the conversation was over, Paul walked into his room and turned his laptop on. When it was on, he looked up on the internet about any water break downs in San Fransico. While searching things up on the internet, he found out something weird had happened down at the Golden Gate Bridge.

_I wonder what the hell is going on down there. I should tell Sam and the others about this._

"Hey, Sam! Come and look at this!" said Paul across the house

"What is it? Did you find anything that could help with the water problem?"

"Not really, but I think this could kinda let us know where the cause might be."

Sam ran to Paul's room looking curious of where and what the cause of this problem could be.

"So, this is what I found so far from the internet that might help us," Paul told Sam as he pointed to the news report that he earlier.

"So, something weird had happened down at the Golden Gate Bridge, and it might be the cause of the water problem we are having right now... It doesn't make perfect sense, but there is a chance that this problem might be related to this."

"Do you think we should go down there and check it out? I mean, this could also be related to the accident and the dead body we saw yesterday at the bridge..."

"Yeah that could be... Let everyone know that we are all going down to the bridge right now to figure out what the problem is."

"Ok. Get the car ready, and I will be outside with everyone in 5 minutes."

_If this actually has a relationship with the accident that happened yesterday and the weird thing that happened at the bridge... I think we should be careful about this._

"**EVERYONE! COME OUTSIDE NOW! WE ARE LEAVING FOR THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE RIGHT NOW TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING!**" shouted Paul.

"I don't think all of us need to go to the bridge just to figure out what is wrong with the water," said Eddie.

"Yeah, I think that too, but I kinda have a bad feeling about this. I'm probably sure that all of us going will be better than us being separated from each other in case anything happens," said Paul.

"Ok, I think all of need to get ready. Give us like 3 minutes," said Andrew.

"Alright, I will be outside with Sam in the car waiting," said Paul. He walked out of the house and headed towards the car where Sam was waiting. Paul got into the driver's seat and started the car. "You think we are gonna find anything useful down there?"

"I'm not sure, but I think we might be able to find "something" out there that we are still unaware of," answered Sam.

"I hope so, too."

_I hope that the dead body we saw yesterday is not related to this. That body was…..man I don't know how I should describe it. I just hope this is just a small problem that we could solve quickly….._

"Everyone is ready," said Peter as he got on the back seat.

"I heard we're going down to the Golden Gate Bridge again. Man, I hope I don't see the kind of body we saw yesterday again. I had nightmares," said Philip.

"Everyone, this is not going to be a big problem. Let's just pray that it will be solved quickly and easily, so we could continue our vacation," Sam told everyone.

When everyone got in the car, Paul drove the car down to the bridge. When they got there, they saw some weird things that had happened last night. Some of the stores and houses were damaged and raided. Some houses were on fire. This was not on the news that they saw this morning on the computer.

_What the hell is going on here? Did a riot happen during the night? Probably not….. maybe a gas explosion? I just can't put all the pieces together to get the answer to what really happened._

"Dang, it's a mess here. What do think happened here?" asked Daniel, who was looking out the window at the view.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

_Wow, it's a total mess out here. What could have happened?...wait, can this be related to what I heard on the radio last night?_

"Ummmm, guys. I think I should tell you guys something. I didn't think it would be necessary to tell you guys, but I heard something on the radio last night. The reporter was saying something about something being everywhere and nothing left in the city for us anymore. I can't think of what the man exactly said, but I think this could help," Daniel told the group.

"And why didn't you tell us this earlier?" asked Andrew.

"Like I said, I didn't think it was necessary," Daniel answered.

"Well, thanks for telling us now. It's not too late to search and see what happened here," said Sam. "We should get out of the car and search for anything that would be useful to us, quickly."

"Got ya. We'll do that right now," said Peter as he got off the car.

_I hope this doesn't turn into a disaster. It's a fucken vacation we are on…_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Kenny, you think all the problems are related to what Daniel heard on the radio yesterday? The water problem, the dead body, and this mess," Sam asked.

"I'm not sure, but it's not impossible…. I just hope this has nothing to do with the dead body because that didn't look pleasing," answered Kenny.

"Yeah I hope so."

The group had separated into three different teams: Sam, Kenny, and Philip in team 1, Paul, Peter, and Andrew in team 2, and Eddie and Daniel in team 3.

"Did you find anything useful Sam?" Paul asked through the walkie-talkie he had given to each team.

"Nope nothing so far, but I could see that some of the houses and stores are vacated," Sam answered to the walkie-talkie.

"Yeah, the place I am at is like that too, but I also see….. dead bodies. They're kinda like the one we saw yesterday at the bridge, but it was killed not long ago."

_Dead bodies similar to the ones we saw yesterday…. What could this mean? At least I know that that body is related to whatever happened here._

"Ok, thanks for the info. I will try to find something that could help us," said Sam.

"Kenny, you heard that right. I don't want to believe it, but I think that dead body is related to this mess."

"**HEY SAM! COME OVER HERE! YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!**" shouted Philip from a nearby house.

Sam and Kenny walked over to the backyard of the house Philip shouted from and saw the same thing Paul saw, dead bodies. They were not pleasing to look at even for a second. There were total of 3 bodies lying on the ground. One had one of its legs torn off and also its guts falling out. The second one had its body ripped in half, revealing everything inside. The third one was the worst one out of the three. It had one of each arms and legs ripped off and its body had bite marks everywhere. The group couldn't stand to see the body any longer and ran out of the house.

"Just what the hell is wrong with killer? That is just cruel," said Philip.

"Yes, it was a very cruel death but all the bodies had something in common. They all had bite marks. The marks were literally everywhere on the body. It's kinda like the one we saw yesterday. Actually almost the same type of death," said Kenny, " before the officer put the body inside the car, I went up and saw the body like the ones we just saw."

"**ARE YOU GUYS THERE? THIS IS AN EMERGECY! GET TO THE CAR WE DROVE HERE RIGHT NOW!" **Paul shouted through the walkie-talkie.

"What's going on there?" asked Eddie. "Did something happen?"

"**I WILL TELL YOU EVERYTHING WHEN WE ARE ALL TOGETHER! JUST DON'T GET BITTEN BY THE THINGS THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON! NOW MOVE!" **Paul shouted back.

_What is going on? I hope nothing happened to the other team._

"Kenny, Philip, let's move. I have a bad feeling about this now. Remember what Paul said: Do Not Get Bitten by Anything ThatDoesn't Look like a Normal Person," said Sam as he started to run for the car.

"Ok," said Kenny and Philip in union.

About 10 minutes pasted since started running when they saw the other teams discussing what had happened next to the car. Their faces didn't look so well, it looked like they saw something that they shouldn't have.

"What is going on Paul? What happened to your team?" asked Sam as he got closer to the group.

"It's hard and long to explain the whole thing with the time we have right now. Get in the car, I will tell you what happened briefly on our way back to the house," Paul answered.

After Paul said that, everyone got into the car and Paul started telling the group what had happened to his team.

"It was something people thought that couldn't happen, well at least I did. We saw a man that was walking around the same street that we were on. He seemed clueless on what had happened to this part of the city. He walked around and kicked a can that made a huge sound. Then the unexpected happened. A dead body came walking towards the man. The man looked shocked at what he was seeing, _a dead body walking towards him. _The man just stood there and watched the body walk towards him, which was his mistake. When the body got near the man, it lunged at the man and bit him. The man yelled in agony and in shock since he didn't expect the body to come and bite him. The man tried to push the body away from him, but before he could do that, I saw more dead bodies walk towards him. He was nearly eaten alive until….. He turned into a soulless body just like the ones that attacked him. This is why I told you guys not to get bitten by them," said Paul.

"That is…. scary," Philip commented.

"So, now we all know that all of the problems we faced are related to that dead body we saw yesterday. We should go back to our house quickly and think about what we will do from here," said Sam.

"Man, I wish it's only that city with dead bodies walking around attacking people. It's not going to be pleasant to find those bodies in other place. It would also be easier to get rid of them if they are in one place," said Kenny.

"Well, we what we know so far about those dead bodies are that they are attracted by loud sound and if you get bitten by one of them, you turn into one of them as well," said Paul as he parked the car next to the house.

"Everybody get in the house quickly. We have to move out of here as soon as possible," Eddie told the group as walked into the house.

"Go on in and pack everything that will help us on our way back. Sam and I will go to the gas station and fill the car with gas and come back for you guys," said Paul through the opened window of the car.

"Alright, we'll call you when we are done packing and ready to go," said Andrew as he closed the door.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Do you think this will become a huge problem in our life, or it will be solved quickly?" Paul asked Sam.

"I don't know for sure, but I wish it will be solved before it becomes too big for anyone to solve it," Sam answered back.

_I hope it doesn't get too big for anyone to solve just like Sam said….. I should just think right now about getting them out of here as soon as possible without running into any trouble._

"Yeah, I hope so, too."

The rest of the way to the gas station was silent. Both of them were thinking of any ways for the group to get out of the city without having to face those dead bodies and getting hard, or even worst, turning into one of them.

"Sam, I think we should come up with a name for these dead bodies. It will be better for us to name them then calling and shouting dead bodies in a serious and life or death situation."

"That's a good idea. What should we call them?"

"I'm not sure….. how about just undead?"

"That's not a bad name, but I don't think that is good enough. Undead is too freaky. I think we should give them a name that is not too freaky but not so funny."

"Alright, then do you have any idea for a good name?"

"Since they don't run or jump but walk, why don't we call them walkers?"

"Walker. It's not a bad name for them. Ok, we shall call those undead walkers from now on."

_Now walkers are in San Francisco. What should we do?_

"What should we do in case we run into any of those walkers?" Paul asked on their way back from the gas station.

"In that case, we should be ready to fight them. After all of the others are done packing, we should go find any kind of weapon we could find outside."

"Ok."

When they got to the house, all the others were already outside with their stuffs packed and ready to go.

"We're all ready to go Paul," said Eddie as he walked towards the door of the car.

"Ok that's good but before we go anywhere, Sam and I need to go inside to find any sort of weapon we could use to fight those walkers in case we encounter them," said Paul. "We'll be back in 5 minutes, so you guys go inside the car and wait for us."

Paul and Sam got out of the car and went inside to find what they needed. After 5 minutes, they came out with the following items: 4 kitchen knives, 3 golf clubs, and 2 bats.

"I think this is going to be enough for us right now. Why don't we get the hell out of here?" said Peter.

"Calm the fuck down Peter. We need to get on first," said Sam as he got inside the car.

"Is everyone ready to go? Right now it doesn't matter about where people sit and the seat belts and things like that. Just get ready to jump out or something if anything happens," said Paul as he started the car and hit the road to get out of San Francisco.


	3. Chapter 3-Lost of a Friend

Chapter 3- Lost of a Friend

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"Guys, we are almost near the road out of San Francisco," said Paul from the driver's seat.

"Paul, do you think we will be fine outside?" asked Daniel still not being able to suck in all the things that has been happening.

"I hope so. I don't really want to live in a world full of undead walking everywhere I go."

"Paul is that suppose to be the road out of San Francisco?" asked Sam with a surprised face.

"Yeah that is the road… what the hell," said Paul as he looked more closely at the road.

The road was a mess. It looked like someone has blown up a bomb right below it and sunk the whole road down. No one was able to get on the road or leave San Francisco.

"What the hell are we going to do?" said Daniel after he looked at the state of the road. "We can't go anywhere like this. As I remember, there is no other road out of here. What are we going to do?" Daniel got out of the car in a panic, not caring if the car was still moving or not.

"Turn the radio on Paul. It might tell us what happened here," said Eddie.

With a sweaty hand, Paul pushed the button to turn the radio on. He turned to the news channel, and they started to listen.

"The road out of San Francisco was blown up about 30 minutes ago. We very sorry to tell the remaining people in there this, but the things inside there must stay there and not come out. Please stay put and alive until the government is able to put everything under control. We once again apologize for this. Please stay alive."

"Wow! Just great. So we have to stay here for, who knows how long," said Kenny while punching the car. "I am going to ask this as well: What are we going to do?"

"I guess for right now we go find somewhere safe in the city and stay put," said Paul.

"Why does the world have to turn into a nightmare when we are on a vacation? Would it hurt anyone if it happened like a week later?" said Daniel as he came back inside the car.

"I guess it really doesn't matter what our opinion about the world or anything is about. What we need to think about is how we are going to survive until the government can do something," said Andrew, sticking his head out from the back of the car.

"I agree with Andrew. Let's just go find somewhere safe," said Philip.

Everyone agreed to go find somewhere safe, so Paul drove back into San Francisco on the road he took to get there.

"Sam do you think this is a good idea? Do you think it would have been better if we tried to find a way out of here back there?" Daniel asked.

"We'll find out if this was the right decision to make or not soon," said Sam. "Paul did you get in contact with the girls ever since yesterday?"

"Oh shit. I totally forgot to tell them about what is going on. I will make sure to contact them as soon as we stop at somewhere safe," answered Paul.

The group was finally able to find a descent place to stay for a day after hours of driving and searching. The place was an apartment that was vacated by all the people who found out what was happening and left the place before the road was bombed. The building itself, unlike the ones they have seen on their way since their vacationing house, was in a descent condition. The windows were still in one piece and the doors were in place as well. Just the knobs were not there when they got near it. They got inside and unpacked only the things that were needed like blankets, pillows, food, and water, so they didn't need to pack everything up again in the morning.

"Calling them right now?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, just dialed the number so waiting for them to pick up," said Paul as he held his phone next to his ear.

"_Hello? Is this Paul?" a girl whispered through the phone._

"Yeah Faith, this is Paul. Are you two safe? Do you know what is going on out there right now?" said Paul to the phone.

"Yeah we are safe, for now. We know what is going on and we met them as well. Those roamers are deadly and scary. I get the chills just thinking about them."

"Well glad to hear that you guys are safe. Do you know where you guys are right now at the moment? We will go and find you guys if you tell me."

"Ummm, I am hundred percent sure, but near a store called Stuff for Less."

"Flower Garden….. ok, we will get there right now. Keep your phone on at all time just in case something happens, or we need to contact you."

"Ok. Well then see you later. Get here safely."

"Yeah, hopefully…."

"Yeah….." said Faith as she hung up the phone.

"Are they safe?" asked Sam who just came back from a walk around the apartment.

"Yeah, they are for now. I told them that we will go and pick them up right now. We just need to find where… Stuff for Less is located…." said Paul.

"Ok, I will find out where that is. Tell everyone to get ready to go on a dangerous mission, a mission to save fellow remnants."

"Got it."

Paul then went to tell everyone else about this while Sam surfed on the internet on his phone to find where Stuff for Less was located.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? We are going back out there to find those girls? You want us to risk our lives?" shouted Kenny after he heard the information from Paul.

"Why shouldn't we go find them? We came to this vacation to have fun together. But when one is in danger, we have to go and help them," said Paul.

"I agree with Paul. We should go and find them. It's better to have a bigger group to survive in this situation. We could do more with them as well. Remember, Faith has a major in medicine," said Philip.

"But still…. whatever if you guys want to risk your lives to find them go ahead. I am going to stay here in a safe place."

"Just leave him alone. He's not going to change his mind about this. You know that. I found the location of the place so let's head over there," whispered Sam from behind. "Is everyone else going with us or not?"

"I think everyone except Kenny, but I think we should leave somewhere behind like Daniel to watch after him. We don't know what Kenny will do if we leave him behind."

"I agree…. ok then let's leave Daniel to watch over him. I will get everyone else ready, go outside and start the car.

Paul walked out the door without a knob to start the car. After he walked out, Sam went to the others and told them to bring anything they needed. When everyone was ready, they went out of the apartment and got into the car.

"Everyone ready?" asked Paul.

"Yeah, let's get this over with quickly so I could rest," said Eddie.

"Alright then. Let's go."

The group started their way to Stuff for Less. The way to them was rough and harsh. The roads were ruined from all the fights with the remaining survivors in San Francisco with the walkers. They had to take ways that were not on the navigator due to all buildings and trees fallen on the ground.

"That is where they are hiding," said Sam pointing to the damaged building on the right of them.

"I am going to have to park the car here. The parking lot is a mess. I can't get this thing any closer to the market," said Paul.

"Alright then. Let's start the rescue mission," said Daniel.

"I will call them right now, so you guys get out watch the surroundings. We don't want to be attacked by any walkers by surprise," said Paul as he got out his phone to dial Faith's number.

"Got it. We'll go and get them as soon as you get in hold of them," said Peter.

They got out of the car and each of them watched the car's surrounding. No walkers were on sight but no one could be sure that none of them were nearby.

"Come on. Hurry up and answer the phone…" said Paul to the phone.

"_Hello. Are you guys here?" said Faith through the phone._

"Yeah we are here. Where are you guys right now?"

"We'll head on out to the main gate of the market. Meet us there."

"Ok. Hurry, we don't want any walkers to come and attack us."

Paul put down the phone and got out of the car.

"We are going to have to get to the main gate of the market. Everyone have your eyes open for any walkers. We have to get out of here alive. Remember that," said Paul to the group as he took the first step to the market.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The way out of market was not complicated. They just needed to go down the stairs and get out of the building. It was supposed to be easy, but it wasn't. Roamers were everywhere. Faith and Joanne didn't know who or what caused them to suddenly appear, but they knew that they were in a big trouble.

"What in the world happened? Why are there roamers here? Wasn't this place empty when we got here?" said Faith.

"Yeah it was. Well I guess something attracted them to all swarm over here," said Joanne. "Why don't you call Paul and let him know our situation here?"

Faith was one step ahead. She already called Paul and was letting him know the situation they were in.

"Paul said that they will come and get us out of here."

"Wow, that's a risky move they are making…."

"Well, I think Sam agreed on it as well. They wouldn't move without those two agreeing on it."

"Yeah I guess so."

All they had to do now was to stay put and ready to leave. The roamers did not notice that they were in the market with them. Just stay in silence and wait…..

"Hey Faith, they are moving towards the main gate."

Now was their time to move and head towards there. But the problem was getting there without being noticed by any of the roamers near them. If they were, all of them will start walking to their direction, and they will be trapped with no escape possible.

"Alright then, let's do this," said Faith as she rubbed her sweaty hands together.

The main gate opened and a rock was thrown from the outside. The roamers heard and started to make their way towards it. The boys were coming in from the side gate that was open.

"Hey. Over here," said Sam. "Hurry up and come. The walkers will be back soon."

The girls made their way down the market to where the boys were waiting. Everything was going well until Faith tripped on an empty can and fell to the ground. The noise drew the roamers from outside to them. The hungry undeads started their way towards the group. The group ran out of the market and was about to run to their car. The only problem was that the car was surrounded by roamers from nearby areas. The group was stuck.

"What are we going to do?" asked Daniel, sweats dripping down his cheek.

"If we want to get to the car, we are going to need a distraction that will keep them away from us," said Sam as he looked out at the soulless roamers around him.

Faith felt sweat dripping down her face to the back of her spine.

_What are we going to do? Who is going to be a distraction for us to get out of here?_

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

It was silent, and the walkers were getting closer and closer every second they wasted. The group did not know what to do.

"I will be the distraction for us," said Philip breaking the silence. "Get out of here and survive."

"Philip, what are you talking about? We are not just going to let you go in there and be killed," said Peter shocked from the decision Philip made.

"Like Sam said, someone is going to have to be a distraction for us to get to the car. I can't do anything special like most of you guys and I'm useless. It's better for me to die knowing that I will be able to save all of you guys."

"But still…."

"Philip, we are going to miss you," said Sam as he put his hands on Philip's shoulder. "We will not forget what you have done for us to live today. It is decided then that Philip will be the distraction for us. Philip will stay at this spot and fight the walkers out until we made it back to the car."

"Sam! You can't just say that!" shouted Peter opposing what Sam has just said. "He's a friend, and you are just going to use him to get us out of here? Can't you think of any other way?"

"Peter! There is no time to argue. Just go. It's better for me to die instead of all of us," said Philip holding back tears.

"Philip…."

"GO! Get out of here alive!" shouted Philip holding out his knife that he kept with him. Philip ran at the horde and the rest of the group started their way to the car.

Philip killed off about three walkers when two came from his blind side and bit him on the neck. Philip screamed in pain as he saw blood, his own warm blood, gushing out and down his neck. He got the walkers off of him, and he knew that he was done for. Not that he had a chance of making it back to the group alive, but he wanted to keep a little hope in himself but now it was gone. The group was able to get back to the car safely, and he was going to die.

"What an unfair life I lived. Not being able to do anything on my own…. Well at least the last thing I did in this life was save the ones that I cared about….." said Philip as he looked up at the sky, tears dropping. "Well it's time for me to say good bye to all of you guys and the world."

"PHILIP WAIT!"

It was the last thing Philip heard before he fell down defenseless against the walkers.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"NO PHILIP YOU CAN'T DIE!"

Peter ran back to where Philip lied down. He was surrounded with a warm pool of blood. Walkers were eating on his flesh, and Peter couldn't do anything to stop them. He ran towards the walkers and killed them with the knife Philip has dropped before he fell.

"Get away from him! He's my friend! You can't!"

Peter killed off four of the five walkers feeding on Philip. When he was about to kill off the last one, the walker bit him on his right wrist. Peter flinched but quickly recovered from it and killed the remaining walker.

_Shit…._

"PETER! What the hell are you doing?" shouted Sam as he ran to Peter. "Are you out of your mind? Philip sacrificed himself for us to get out here alive and you come back here to get yourself killed?"

"But….but…." said Peter now pouring with tears.

"Come on Peter. We have to go…. NOW."

Sam dragged Peter away from Philip dead body to the car. Paul, Eddie, and Andrew were holding back the walkers from getting closers to them. When they were safely inside the car, Paul drove the car out of there. Away from the walkers. Away from a sad lost of a friend.

"Peter, don't ever do that again, or we will have to leave you behind next time," said Sam while he passed a clean cloth to Peter so he could wipe off the blood.

"Guys I thank you for saving my ass, but you guys should have left me behind there with Philip," said Peter while he cleaned off Philip's blood. "What is the point of living when you lived while your friend died?"

"Peter, Philip was the one who decided to do that. He did it because he wanted us to live. Why don't you let Philip go now? He's…..gone," said Paul.

"Yeah it was his decision, but you guys could have stopped him!" yelled Peter with anger. "You guys could have stopped him…. sorry…."

"It's ok Peter. Just calm down," said Sam.

Peter wiped off the still warm blood. While he was cleaning himself up, he remembered the bite mark that he got back at the market.

_Am I suppose to tell the others about this or not? …..I shouldn't make them worry about me. I don't even think it bit me all the way into my blood veins._

The ride was silent until Faith broke the silence.

"Thanks guys for coming to get us. We're sorry for Philip's lost…. Really..."

"Well we did what we had to do. Right Sam?" said Paul.

"Yeah," Sam said. "We have to save our friends from danger right?"

"We arrived at our place guys."

The group got out of the car and walked inside ready to tell Kenny and Daniel the lost of Philip.


	4. Chapter 4-Out with the Old, Into the New

Chapter 4- Out with the Old, Into the New

Author's Note: Sorry guys I have been reading over my story, and I see a lot of mistakes. I am fixing the things that I see right away so please just read on with the right words that you could think of. Thank you so much, and I apologize once again for the mistakes.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Daniel ran out of the apartment as soon as he heard a car noise. He was so happy to see his friends in one piece with no injuries.

"Glad you guys made it back without any trouble. Wait. Paul, Sam, Peter…..where is Philip? Don't tell me…." said Daniel with a shocked face.

Sam told Daniel the whole story about how they had to go into the market to get the girls out of there and also how Philip decided to become the distraction for the group to escape from the walkers.

"Wow…. I never thought that Philip will make that kind of decision. If someone had to make that kind of decision, I thought Philip will be the last one to volunteer."

"I think we would have all thought that way," said Eddie. "I'm just worried about Peter right now. He has been staring into the blank ever since that happened. I don't know when he will come back to his senses."

"Let's just give him some time and hope it doesn't take too long for him to," said Sam as he opened the door. "Let's all go inside and plan what we will do next."

Surprisingly the place was neatly organized with things we needed on one side of the room and trash on the other. Kenny was sitting on an old sofa using the computer that Paul has left before they went to save the girls. Kenny turned away from the screen and looked at the group.

"So you guys managed to get out there alive. I don't see Philip with you, did he…." said Kenny. "I knew this would happen."

"It was Philip's choice that he made. Don't talk about this anymore. It will only bring back sad memories," said Paul as he sat down on the floor against the wall. "He wanted us to live so here we are."

"Enough talking about this and let's talk about what we going to do now. We have enough food and water that will keep us going for about a week and a half. We need to go out there and find something that will help us in our survival," said Sam. "I saw some food stores and pharmacy on our way back from Stuff for Less. We could go there and look for foods and other things, or we stay here and starve or dehydrate to death."

"Haha. Basically what you're saying is that if we don't want to die, then we have to follow you," said Kenny turning back to the computer screen. "I mean if it is going to save my life later, I guess I'm in."

"We will go as well after a little bit of rest. We can't just go out there like this, or we will be killed," said Eddie.

"Ok then, after one hour, we will get ready to go out there. We will have to do this with the sun up, or we will be in trouble."

After the conversation about the plan, the group separated in the apartment to do their own things. Peter lied down on an empty bed and started to think about his remaining life. Knowing that he will hurt his friends if he didn't tell the others about what had happened to him, he still couldn't make himself spit it out. It was just….. too much for him.

The hour went by quickly, and the group was preparing to go outside once again to search for any resources that would help them. When they were ready, Paul drove to the nearest gas station to put in some gas. Once the car was full, they started their way to a food store nearby. After 5 minutes of searching, they found Wal-Mart. The car was parked near the store and the group separated to look for things. Peter and Faith became a team and went to look for useful medicines in the pharmacy.

"So you ok now?" asked Faith as she put in some medicine in the bag she had found.

"What do you mean?" Peter said.

"I mean are you ok now after Philip's death. I'm sorry to say this, but you have to forget him now. He's gone."

"Yeah I know…."

_Should I tell her what happened to me? Will it be ok?_

"Ummm Faith. I have to tell you something."

"What is it?"

Peter pulled up his right sleeve and showed her his wrist. Faith saw the bite mark of a walker Peter had got from the fight few hours ago.

"What…. How….When?" Faith asked with a horrified face.

"When I was fighting the walkers that were eating Philip's body back at Stuff for Less. The last one bit me before I was able to kill it. I didn't want to tell anyone about this, but I am afraid that I will turn into one of them and hurt you guys. I would hate to end my life like that….."

"Peter….."

The rest of the searching was silent for the two of them. After they got everything they could, they made their way back to the group. Everyone was waiting for the two of them at the middle of the store. They each had a bag full of resources.

"Guys I think Peter has something to tell all of you guys," said Faith as she made way towards the group.

"What do you have to say Peter?" asked Daniel.

"Well guys what I have to say is….." Peter said with hesitation.

"Go on Peter. Everyone is listening," said Sam.

"Sorry guys. I don't think I am able to go on with you guys anymore," said Peter as he showed the bite mark to everyone. "I was bitten by a walker."

"WHAT!" shouted everyone.

"Peter….What….When?" said Eddie.

"When I ran back to Philip, one of the walkers bit me before I could kill it. Sorry guys."

"We have to KILL him before he becomes one of those things and attack us!" shouted Kenny.

"Kenny you can't just say that!" said Faith. "He still didn't turn into one….."

"Sooner or later he is going to, and we are going to have to kill him either way. Do it right now before things gets complicated."

"Wait. Did you guys hear that?" asked Andrew. "I heard something from the main gate."

"What noise? Maybe you are hearing things now Andrew," said Daniel smiling.

"No there was a noise. I'm sure of it."

"Guys shut up. I heard something too," said Paul as he quietly walked towards the gate.

When Paul got closer to the gate, the noise got louder. Everyone was now able to hear the noise clearly. It was from the walkers. The shouting and arguing had lured the walkers to their spot. Paul saw the walkers outside and quickly ran back to the group.

"We have to get out of here. There is still time for us to get to the car safely. Quickly guys," said Paul as he grabbed two bags off the floor.

"Guys leave me here and go," said Peter. "It's better for me to stay here and die then to go with you guys and hurt you guys."

"Peter stop talking nonsense and pick up that pack. We need to get out of here!" said Sam as he picked up his pack. "We will do what we have to later but not right now."

"But…." Peter collapsed before he could finish the sentence.

"Great and this has to happen," said Kenny as he ran towards the car away from the walkers. "Leave him behind. He will just be a burden to us."

"Don't listen to him. I will take Peter with me, so you guys just go and get in the car quickly," said Eddie as he picked up Peter.

The group ran towards the car with full speed. Kenny, who ran out of the store first however, was attacked by a walker nearby.

"What the hell! Get this thing off of me! Someone help me!" shouted Kenny as he struggled to keep the walker away from him.

"What an idiot, running without even staying alert for any walkers," said Paul as he pulled out a hunter knife he found at the store.

Paul ran towards Kenny to kill the walker before it could bite Kenny on the neck. Paul slashed the walker's jaw before it could open it wide for a bite. The knife cut through the jaw and Paul stabbed the walkers head with the knife. Black blood gushed out of the walker's head, and it fell with its jaw hanging from its mouth.

"You should be more careful next time Kenny," said Paul as he wiped the blood off the knife.

"Thanks for that. Now let's get in the car. We need to get out of here."

"Get in and start the car," Paul said as he handed Kenny the car key. "I will hold them off until the others get here."

"Don't get yourself bitten like Peter, or I am going to have to kill you."

"Haha that won't happen."

Kenny went into the car and started the engine. The noise from the start of the engine attracted the few remaining walkers towards them. The rest of the group was running towards the car with all the packs and Peter on Sam's back.

"Hurry guys! We are going to be in trouble if we don't get out of here quick!" shouted Paul while defending the car. "I don't know how much longer I could hold them off for."

"We're coming! Man, Peter is freakin' heavy," said Sam. "Come on guys! Pick up the pace a little more!"

They arrived at the car and got inside. Paul who was defending the car from the walker got inside after he killed off the last walker that was near the car.

"Drive Kenny! Get us out of here!" shouted Paul as he shut the door.

Kenny drove the car out of Wal-Mart and towards the apartment. Everyone was exhausted from the whole crazy situation they were just in. Few minutes later, Peter woke up.

"Uhhh, what happened to me?" said Peter as he lifted his head. "I thought we were under attack by the walkers."

"We got out of there safely without any injuries or bite. Thank the Lord that you didn't turn into one of them," said Sam as he handed Peter a bottle of water.

"I still think that Peter should be kicked out of this car. WHAT IF HE turns into a walker while we are in the car? We are all screwed," said Kenny.

"Kenny stop it. This is not the time," said Faith.

"If you guys are not going to kill him when we get to the apartment, I am leaving you guys. I am not staying here with bunch of idiots who can't think and act."

"Kenny how could you say that! I thought all of us were your friends," said Joanne.

"Friends… what is the use of friends like you guys? I am probably better off without you guys."

"KENNY!" shouted Faith and Joanne.

"Guys calm down. We shouldn't be fighting among ourselves. There is a bigger problem out there and we are doing them a favor by hurting each other. Stop this," said Sam.

The rest of the ride was silent. When the group arrived at the apartment, Kenny got out of the car first and went inside to pack his stuff. He was about to walk out when Pau and Sam stopped him.

"What do you think you are doing Kenny?" asked Paul. "I thought we were in this all together."

"Not when I am in this with you idiots. Let me go," said Kenny.

"We can't do that Kenny." Sam said. "This group is going to fall apart as more of us leave."

Paul nodded his head, agreeing.

Kenny raised the iron bar at his friends, an evil intent looming in his eyes. Sam and Paul took a step back, exasperated and confused.

"Then stop me." Kenny said, his eyes dark."

Paul and Sam looked at each other, unable to think on what to do.

"I guess you guys ain't got the balls to do it." Kenny said, scoffing. He then turned around and began to walk away.

"It's a kill or be killed world now." Kenny said, walking away. "Don't withhold the morals of the old world."

Sam stepped forward, fists clenched. "You've gone too far Kenny!"

Kenny stopped walking. A deafening silence settled upon the group.

He turned around, a dark look over his face.

"Me?..." He started to say. "Gone too far?..."

Silence.

"No… I haven't gone too far…" Kenny said, glaring at everyone. "You've all stayed behind… this world isn't going to wait for you and lick your wounds as you prepare yourself for it. The only way from here on out is to move on…"

No one said anything.

"… Which clearly, you guys aren't doing…"

Sam looked as if he was at a loss of words.

Kenny looked at everyone one more time. "Keep going like this… and ALL of your going to wind up dead."

Still, no one said a word. Sam and Paul looked pained in the face.

He turned again, this time for good. "I'm leaving… Don't try to stop me."

With that said, Kenny left the group for good. With Kenny gone, the group lost 2 people and soon 3…


	5. Chapter 5: Scavengers

**Disclaimer: I ****do not own the Walking Dead in any way whatsoever.**

**Author's Notes:**** Hey readers, I am Ethereal Bliss and I'll be taking over HyRool's FanFic for the next two chapters. It's a privilege to be able to do so. And if you haven't figured out already, HyRool and I are writing back-to-back FanFics that sort of act as companions to one another. Please check out mine if you have time and be sure to show HyRool love as well! Oh right, if you guys have any OC suggestions, be sure to PM HyRool!**

** s/10637252/1/The-Heart-of-the-Dead**

**Leave a word or something for HyRool! **

**Enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"I can't believe this shit…"

Daniel and Faith looked at Sam as they walked the empty streets of San Francisco. The city was eerily quiet. There were no walkers in sight nor were there any survivors to be seen. The whole city just seemed to be dead.

"How long has it been?" Sam muttered to himself, exasperated. "God, I don't even know anymore…"

Daniel nudged Faith's shoulder. She looked at him. "What's wrong with Sam?"

Faith gave Daniel a similarly confused look. "Well… I mean we did lose Kenny and Philip… That alone is traumatizing. I didn't know Philip too well to be honest but I can't imagine what is going on in Sam's head… Being a leader and all… It's a heavy burden…"

"No kidding…" Daniel said. "Hell, it takes some major balls to be able to keep a strong face in front of everyone. Must be hard on him…"

Sam stopped in his tracks and so did Faith and Daniel. Sam looked around their current area. They were on a long strip of asphalt lined with abandoned cars and such. Some cars were still running, barely. Handbags and other miscellaneous items littered the ground upon which the walked. Still, there were no walkers in sight.

"Alright." Sam said, turning to face the two. "This seems like a good area to scavenge some supplies. Most of the cars still have some fuel in them so we should siphon what we can."

Faith and Daniel nodded.

Sam looked at the car to his right and saw that the window was smashed. Peering inside, there was a scoped hunting rifle slung behind the passenger seat. Grabbing the barrel of the weapon, he quickly pulled the rifle out the car. He unfastened the bolt to let the magazine fall loose. The small magazine popped from the chamber and landed in his hand. Looking at the bullets inside, Sam counted around six shots.

"You seem to know something about guns…" Faith said.

Sam semi-smirked. "Being in the Army reserves will teach you a thing or two… Not to mention hunting."

"Ex-Army?" Daniel said, confused. "Is that why everyone at TLC lost contact with you for almost two years back then?"

Sam sighed. "I was short on money and out of a job. I needed to do something to support my parents with."

"Oh." Daniel said.

Sam quickly refastened the gun and handed it to Daniel. When Daniel grabbed the weapon, he was confused.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Daniel asked.

Sam briefly looked around at the cars. He pointed to a white delivery van behind the two.

"Get yourself onto the roof of the car and be our lookout. That scope on the rifle will give you a pretty good visual of the surrounding area." Sam replied.

Daniel looked at the rifle and then back at Sam. "What do you want me to do when the walkers start coming around? You want me to pop 'em?"

Sam shook his head. "No. Shooting them will only get their attention. We will be swarmed. If you see them, give us a signal or something. Then, we will book it and get back to the group."

Daniel, although slightly nervous, nodded his head. "A-alright. I can do that."

Sam nodded approvingly as he reached back into the car and pulled out a small rucksack. He unclipped the top and looked inside. Inside the small sack were about twenty extra bullets or so. He closed the sack and tightened the top. He tossed the sack to Daniel who had already made his way up onto the van.

"What's this?" Daniel asked as he picked the sack up from the roof of the car.

"Bullets." Sam said. "Just in case."

Anxious and excited, Daniel tied the sack around his belt as he held the scope near his face, scouting the area out.

Faith and Sam looked at each other.

"So…" Faith began to say. "What are we supposed to do know?"

Sam looked at her, dumbfounded. "I thought it was self-explanatory."

"Huh?"

Sam pointed to all the cars around them. "Supplies, Faith. SUPPLIES."

"Oooh…" Faith said, nodding her head. "I got you."

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Sam asked, already starting his search on a car. "Hop to it!"

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

The gun felt heavy in his hands as Daniel stood on top of the van. He was sure that rifles like these weren't so heavy before. That's when Daniel started to think.

_Am I getting weak?_

It was true, he and the group hadn't eaten anything a decent meal in the past couple of days. Ever since this nightmare began, everyone was so busy scavenging and trying to survive, no one could really wind down and take time to look after themselves. Daniel looked down at the sun roof of the van and saw his reflection. To say he was shocked would have been an understatement.

Dark eye bags had formed beneath his eyes, giving him a ghastly appearance. His glasses had hidden most of his eyes but without them, he looked sickly. His face appeared gaunt as well, as if he were malnourished severely. He was also dirty beyond comprehension. Daniel sure as hell didn't feel as bad as he looked, but upon seeing his reflection, he had second thoughts.

_Damn… How long has it been since I had a decent shower?_

Daniel sat down on the roof of the van, sighing. To be blunt, he was a pothead and a college dropout. He was caught with the possession of marijuana on the school campus back at Berkeley University and was expelled on the spot. In short, his life was over. He could no longer attend school, he couldn't afford an education, and he was out of a job. Life became a downward spiraling staircase and he was the unlucky sap that happened to leap down. Before all of this started, he wished something would happen, something that always happened in those books he had read when he was younger. Tragedy strikes and a hero rose to save the day and blah blah blah. It was one of those childhood fantasies he occasionally had.

Daniel had asked for a tragedy but this wasn't what he had in mind. Now, in the present, a real tragedy struck the whole earth and he could no longer be see himself as the protagonist but merely as a bystander caught in the full blast of the catastrophe. There would be no happy ending or a satisfying conclusion.

"One day…" Daniel muttered to himself unwittingly. "I am going to die. It might be tomorrow… Hell, it might even be today, who knows?"

And that was the reality of things. He was going to die one day. And so were his friends.

"I can't take this anymore." Daniel said, reaching into his jacket's pocket. "I need a smoke."

From the inside of his jacket, Daniel pulled out a small pharmaceutical container and a small roll of paper. Cutting a small piece of paper off with his pocketknife, he popped the container opened and poured some of the crushed leaves onto the slip. As the enrapturing smell hit his nose, Daniel slowly felt his worries slip away and his craving kick in.

Tightening the roll around the crushed marijuana, Daniel pocketed everything and pulled out a silver cased lighter. On the lighter were the letters D.I, his initials. He flicked the wheel and saw the sparks fly. Soon, his roll was burning. Breathing in the sweet smoke, Daniel let it back out.

"I really needed that." Daniel said, his blunt in one hand and the rifle resting in the other.

He thought back to the vacation his friends were on. The period when he was finally back with his friends was when he finally felt alive again. Of course, his friends didn't know anything about his destitute situation at first but when Daniel broke the news to them, all hell broke loose.

Especially his brother Paul.

_He went absolute bat-shit crazy on me… _Daniel reminisced to himself.

But even so, it didn't bother him. His friends still loved him the same. But that happiness was cut short as real hell broke loose on Earth.

_Still can't believe this is going on…_

He brought the paper back to his mouth, about to take another inhale when a terrible odor hit his nose. He at first thought his scent had gone bad, smelling the marijuana differently than he had before but he smoked long enough to be able to distinguish between the scent of weed and anything else.

And this was definitely not the smell of his weed he was smelling.

Daniel looked over the edge of the van and the shield that his marijuana had created was shattered.

Around his van and along the cars, a horde of walkers had swarmed the area. Daniel was exasperated find the situation he had found himself in. He would be able to wait the walkers out without having to worry too much about getting caught. By now, he was probably in the eye of the storm.

And that's when it struck him.

His friends were still out there.

And there was no way he could alert them.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

"God… This is disgusting…" Faith said as she opened the door of an abandoned car. There was blood deeply stained into the expensive leather of the car. Whoever used this car before must have been in a deadly struggle. The side mirror was broken off and the window next to the driver's seat was smashed to pieces with strips of cloth hanging on the shards and blood specked all over the place.

"It's gotta get done." Sam said, shutting a car door behind him and walking towards Faith. "We may not be in dire need for most of these things but when the luxuries of our previous lives fall away, everything will be invaluable."

Faith shot a glance at Sam. "Can you ever talk like a normal person and use simple words for once, please? For my sanity?"

Sam rolled his eyes as he looked into the car Faith was scavenging. "Whatever you say, miss."

"I doubt that you will follow up with that…" Faith muttered to herself.

"Look!" Sam said as he rummaged through the car. "You overlooked so many things in this car!"

Faith sighed as she took reluctantly looked back into the gore sight she tore her eyes away from earlier. As her eyes scanned the car again, she had to agree with Sam. She had ignored a lot of things. In the passenger seat, there was black compound bow with a case full of brightly painted arrows. Sam had opened the glove compartment and pulled out a snub-nosed revolver. Faith took out the bow and arrows and slung it over her shoulder.

"You think you'll know how to use that?" Sam asked her as he released the hammer on the revolver. "Bows are some tough stuff to work with."

Faith gripped the bow grip tightly as she pulled the elastic banding. It required a lot of force but eventually, Faith pulled the banding back far enough. "I'll learn."

"You better." Sam said, counting the bullets in the chamber. "You get yourself pinned down by walkers and you pull a bow like that, you are going to be devoured faster than I can say 'Boba'"

Faith glared at Sam. "Don't say that! You're gonna end up letting it happen!"

Sam chuckled, holstering the revolver into his inner jacket pocket. "Not with us around. Don't trip Faith. The only time you'll have to worry about that is when everyone is dead."

"Now you got me even more worried."

"Sigh. Forget it then."

Faith shook her head as she took one last glance at the car and she peered into the backseat.

What she saw deeply engraved that very image into her mind.

The backseat was even worse than the front when it came to gore. Literally gallons of blood were spread along the seating. On the seats, there were several infant toys, all equally drenched with dark blood. There was also a car seat, the ones specifically designed for toddler use. In the seat was a pool of blood, sitting motionlessly, and glinting sunlight off the dark, fluorescent sheen. The glass window was covered in chunks of bright pink flesh that had hardened onto the glass. Blood was everywhere on the glass. With a careful eye, one could even make out a small handprint left by a toddler on the glass.

Faith bolted out of the car and threw up in front of it, much to Sam's surprise. She held her head down, feeling the wave of nausea take over. She gasped for breath as leaned against the front of the car. Sam went over to her and helped her upright.

"Are you alright?" He asked, concerned.

Faith slowly nodded her head, she almost felt like crying.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, wiping the bile from her lips with a gloved finger.

She merely pointed at towards the backseat of the car with a shaky finger.

Sam followed her finger and approached the same car door. While leaning on the front, Faith heard Sam mutter something in a horrified manner. When he came back, his face was pale, as if he had seen something terrible, similar to Faith.

"We best get a move on." Sam said, taking deep breaths. He too was taken aback by the sight in the backseat. "You good?"

"Yeah." Faith said, wiping her mouth for good measure. "I-I think I'm better."

"Good. Let's get going."

The two began to walk back to Daniel, keeping an even pace on one another. Sam glanced at Faith and sighed.

"What is it?" Faith asked.

Sam stuck out a lip. "You say you're okay yet your face tells me otherwise."

Faith shook her head. "Sam, I said I'm fine."

"You sure as hell don't look like it though." Sam stated adamantly.

Faith said nothing.

"Look, I know you are a strong person. You're probably stronger than most of the group members. But that doesn't mean you need to act it when you're not. It's okay to let others know when you aren't feeling game."

"I-I'm…" Faith started to say. Then she sighed. "Look, do we have to this now?"

Sam shrugged. "It's up to you."

Faith sighed again. "The thing took me off guard was not the blood and gore… It's the fact that there was a car seat in the backseat… A child, maybe even a toddler, was caught up in this mess… It's just… Oh, I don't know… Saddening…"

"I know what you mean." Sam said sympathetically.

Faith remained silent.

"It's funny what the world has come, isn't it?" Sam said, leaning on a car.

Faith leaned on the same car. "Funny wouldn't be the word I'd use to describe it…"

Sam let out a small laugh. "Yeah, I guess..."

Sam continued. "But I think what the funny thing is that several days ago, I was complaining about life. Our previous life, mind you. Complaining about traffic, school, personal life… And now… in this… twisted sort of fate, all of those things were taken away… I would do anything to have all of it back…"

"For all those problems, "Faith said. "Anything?"

Sam nodded. "Anything."

Faith sighed as she leaned her head on Sam's shoulder. "I could say the same… Finish all Med School exams… Graduate… Become a world renown doctor and make lots of money… and then settle down and enjoy the rest of life… THAT would have been my life…"

"Would have…" Sam muttered to himself.

Faith glanced up at Sam and asked, "Do you think all of this will be cleared up soon?"

"I hope so…" Sam said, sighing. "I want all of this to go away as badly as you do."

Faith smiled, "Glad to hear that you're still human in that head of yours."

"Of course I'm still human." Sam said, in a matter-of-fact way. "What makes you think I'm not?"

"Oh I don't know…" Faith said sarcastically. "Your best friend suddenly packs up and leaves the group without much a word or so?"

Sam slumped back onto the car. "I still don't know what to do about that… I mean Kenny… why would he…?"

"Quit killing yourself over that." Faith said, patting his shoulder. "And what was that earlier?... about not acting tough when you're not?"

"I am tough."

"Oh, please…" Faith said playfully. "You couldn't hurt a fly."

Sam snorted. "Excuse me while I go clean all the BS out of my ear right now."

"Oh please do." Faith replied. "You'll probably need an electrical drill for that."

The two laughed.

"Y'know…" Sam said. "We've all been trying so hard to survive, we've all forgotten how to live…"

Faith nodded her head slowly. "It's good to hear the laughter of another person…"

Sam smiled.

His face suddenly went dark.

"Wh-what's wrong?" Faith asked, pushing herself off the car, her senses heightening.

Sam glanced around. "You hear that?"

Faith honed in on whatever noise was around her. Listening acutely, she heard the shuffling of padded feet and the occasional moan. A noxious smell had also hit both of their noses. Faith held her hand to her mouth.

Sam gritted his teeth. "Walkers… We were being careless."

Faith felt her heart rate skyrocket. "Why didn't Daniel alert us a horde was coming?"

"I don't know." Sam said. "Whatever the reason, it can't be a good one."

Faith looked around. "What the hell do we do?"

Sam thought for a moment. The direction in which they were walking was the source of the sound. They needed to the head the opposite way if they were to avoid the horde of walkers that was inbound any moment. He looked at Faith.

"Head back down."

She nodded and began to walk back down the highway in which they were scavenging previously without hesitation. Sam trailed slightly behind, trying to unsuccessfully get a visual on the walkers. As they approached the car they rummaged through earlier, Faith's heart dropped.

There was a horde coming from the other direction.

She had never seen anything of the sort.

"Get down!" Sam whispered furiously as he pulled Faith behind the car. As she hid behind the car, a walker briskly passed by, unaware of the two.

Faith looked at Sam, her eyes filled with terror. "We're caught between two hordes of walkers and we have virtually no way out… What the hell are we gonna do? We're stuck in the open like this!"

Sam looked around the cars. They could try to hide in the cars but then they would risk being seen by the walkers. If that were to happen, they would be boxed in with no way out. Sam looked at the roof of the car they searched earlier.

_That's it!_

He looked at Faith who was terribly scared. "Come here."

"Wh-what do you plan on doing?" Faith whispered shakily.

"Getting you the hell out of here." Sam said. "Now come here and extend your foot."

Sam used his hands as a step for Faith to get onto the roof of the car. Once Faith had most of her upper body above the roof level, she managed herself. Every movement she made sounded like thunderclaps and clanging metal in her head but the walkers did not seem to notice as she slowly sidled down on to the roof.

Faith eventually settled herself onto the roof despite her shaky disposition. She looked back down at Sam.

"What are you waiting for?" She whispered. "Get up!"

"Okay, okay!" Sam said, hoisting himself onto the trunk.

As he did, Faith heard a loud snarl.

Looking back down again, Faith saw that Sam had attracted the attention of a wandering walker. It shambled towards him and grabbed his shoulders, much to his shock. Sam, unable to respond, simply held onto the car trunk helplessly. The walker clamped its teeth onto his shoulder.

Faith shut her eyes, unable to witness the scene about to unfold before her.

_No… What the hell am I doing?! I need to do something_

Faith thought fast and hard about what to do. Sam's life was at stake.

….

…

…

_The bow and arrow!_

She quickly unfastened the arrow container and brought it to the elastic banding on her bow. Feeling the arrow come into place, she pulled as hard as she could. She took aim at Sam and the walker.

And she let go.

She shut her eyes.

As she did, she heard a THUNK!

Upon opening her eyes, she saw Sam breathing heavily over a fallen body, which turned out to be the walker. His face was covered in dark blood.

"Oh my god! Weren't you bitten?!" Faith whispered, nearly screaming silently.

Sam shakily shook his head no.

Faith saw a huge tear in Sam's backpack strap and the shoulder portion of his leather jacket. The walker had indeed bitten through the strap and jacket but was unable to bite deep enough to inflict any wound of a sort.

"The walker bit into my backpack strap luckily…"

Faith felt tears welling in her eyes. "I-I thought I lost you!"

Sam managed a small shaky smile. "Aw… you care about me…"

"Please don't ruin the moment…"

Sam devised another plan and checked the car trunk. It opened with creak. Slowly, he fit himself into the SUV's trunk and shut the door behind him. Faith lay on the roof in a fetal position, praying that no walker would see her. She had to wait out until the horde had passed.

When she lay there, it felt like an eternity for all the shuffling feet and moaning voices to pass her. They all unnerved her.

Then, after what felt like sheer eternity, Faith looked over her shoulder and saw that the walkers had all wandered off. Sam must have noticed too because the trunk door slowly opened again. Sam emerged from the car, barely able to catch his breath. He looked up at Faith and she looked back down at him.

"Well… That happened." Sam muttered.

"Yeah…" Faith said in a shaky voice. "It did."

"Thanks for saving my ass back there." Sam said, looking down at the walker from earlier and back at Faith.

"Well, I DO care about you, Sam."

"Awwww… ain't that sweet."

"Can it."

Sam shrugged as he walked slowly from the back of the car and onto the highway straight. He couldn't see any walkers.

"I think we're good." Sam said, giving Faith a quick glance. "You ready to come down?"

Faith nodded as Sam approached her, extending his arms.

"I got you. Don't worry about it."

Faith did a small leap off the roof and landed on her feet. She dusted herself off. Sam whistled.

"Badass." He said, smirking.

Faith smiled slightly. She looked back down at the walker and reached for her arrow. It wouldn't budge. Putting her foot on its head, she pulled as hard as she could and soon enough, the arrow popped out loose. The tip was covered in black, decayed flesh and smelled terrible.

"Oh God…" Faith muttered, shoving the arrow back into the case.

Sam looked over her shoulder and saw no walkers in sight.

"All right." He said, pacing around slightly.

"That horde will have given us some precious time by blocking the pathway for the other oncoming horde. We better get a move along, ASAP."

"But what about Daniel?" Faith asked, concerned as she looked back towards where they came from. "Are we just gonna leave him?"

"Knowing Daniel," Sam started to say. "He'll probably be out of trouble. He'll manage on his own for now."

"But-"

Sam grabbed Faith's shoulders. "Look, I know you care about Daniel. I know how close you are to him but he'll be fine. I promise. He'll make it out alive."

Faith sighed. "Yeah, okay."

The two stood there, looking around.

"We can't head back that way…" Sam muttered. "So we can't regroup with everyone back at the apartment…"

"And we can't just blatantly walk forward on this highway…" Faith said. "We're only going to push ourselves further from the group…"

"And we can't just wait out the horde either…" Sam added. "We might get pinned down… Considering that we can't do a detour, we may even have to spend the night away from the group… Where to?"

Sam thought long and hard but no thought came into his head.

"How about that?" Faith suggested.

Sam looked up and saw that Faith was pointing at a billboard of some sort. Following her finger, Sam saw where she was pointing at and read the billboard.

**SAN FRANCISCO AIRPORT: NEXT EXIT ¼ of a mile.**

Sam looked at Faith and smiled.

"That's more like it."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**(A/N): THANKS FOR READING Y'ALL. HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT! I'M GOING TO WRITE ONE MORE CHAPTER AND I'LL BE DONE… Who knows, I might come back and write some more! Anywho, I hoped you enjoyed it as much I did writing it.**

**Give HyRool some love! Leave a word or something for him!**

**Until Next Time,**

**~SAYONARA~**


	6. Chapter 6: Survival

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead in any way whatsoever.**

**Author's Notes: Hello readers, this is HyRool again. I will be writing the story again since Ethereal Bliss decided to work on his FanFiction and wanted me to start writing again. For the readers who are reading this story for the first time or did not know about this before, Ethereal Bliss and I are writing back-to-back FanFics. Please check out Ethereal Bliss's story from this URL:** ** s/10637252/1/The-Heart-of-the-Dead. If you have any OC suggestions, be sure to PM me, and I will see what I could do. Thank you for reading and enjoy!**

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Daniel ran out of where he thought would have been Hell if he stayed any longer. After hours of waiting for the walkers to go away, he was finally out but with guilt and worry.

_I couldn't warn Sam and Faith about this. Who knows what happened to them with that much walkers going towards their direction. If they were attacked by the horde and….. It would all be my fault. What the hell was I thinking?_

Daniel started walking down the unknown street he was on. The buildings were barren with broken glass and blood all over the ground. There were no signs of survivors anywhere, but Daniel did see places that probably were used for shelters from the walkers. Still some of the windows were nailed down with wooden boards, traps were laid down on the ground, and there were more things that Daniel couldn't figure out what they were.

_This place must have been pretty darn fortified. Probably the horde is the cause of this whole result. Maybe I could find some useful stuff for the group inside some of these buildings._

Daniel walked into the closest building to him. It was not as damaged and old compared to the other buildings near it. The lights for the living room were on, but it was dim and wasn't enough to light up the entire room. The living room was trashed with empty bullet shells and blood. There was one sleeping bag covered in dried blackish-red blood. The room smelled like an abandoned hospital. Daniel looked around the room and found nothing but a stair that led to other rooms upstairs. He started up the stairs and on his tenth step; he stepped on a small puddle of red blood. It was not dry or black like the ones he saw down at the living room but fresh red blood. The puddle was small enough to stay on the stairs and not fall on to the ground through the openings between each stairs. Daniel got on his knees to take a closer look at the blood.

_It seems to me that the blood was spilled not that long ago. It shouldn't be like this if it was spilled long time ago. It's common sense. I didn't see any light or anyone who was walking around, not even a walker. Who is this blood from?_

Filled with curiosity and horror, Daniel took quiet steps up the rest of the stairs. When Daniel was at the second floor of the house, he saw three rooms: one that was shut with its knob bent, one with its door separated from the room, and one with its door halfway open. The floor was filled with dry blood but also fresh red blood. A trail of blood led to the room with the door halfway open. Daniel held the rifle he had on his shoulders and pointed at the door as he slowly walked towards it. Sweat slowly ran down his right cheek and dropped to the floor. What would he find behind the door? There were no bodies on the floor that the blood could have spilled from. What if something popped out and attacked him? What is he going to do? With these questions in mind, Daniel got closer and closer to the door. He held the rifle high enough to shoot at a head of a walker. He grabbed the door knob and slowly opened it. The door opened with screeching sound and it revealed a very unpleasant sight. The room had blood spattered everywhere and a body lied on the floor with a black pistol dropped besides the right hand. The pistol was covered in the person's blood. The head was covered with short black hair, but blood was dripping from a hole on top.

_This man must have shot himself to get himself out of misery. It must have been really hard for him to have come to this decision. Was he bitten by a walker?_

Daniel flipped the body over and immediately he saw the huge bite mark on his left side of the stomach. He also had several other little bite marks on his body.

_What if I have to shoot myself like this man? Will I be able to pull the trigger?_

Daniel held the rifle on his shoulders with the strap and bent down to grab the pistol. He wiped the blood of the gun and looked at it more closely. It had an initial carved on the left side of the gun's handle: _I.D._

_What the heck. This could be my initial as well. I wonder what this man's name was…."_

He held the pistol in his hand and walked out of the room. As he walked out one question came into his head.

_If this man was bitten and hurt by a walker, where is the walker right now? I didn't see any dead bodies on the way….._

He quickly ran down the stairs and into the living room. He ran to the door to get out but slipped on a puddle of blood and twisted his left ankle.

"Fuck!" Daniel shouted, "why does the freaken puddle have to be there? I don't have time for this…."

Then Daniel heard it. The moaning of walkers nearby.

_What the hell was I thinking shouting like that?_

Daniel tried getting up from the ground but his twisted ankle held him down. He looked around him, and he saw the black forms of distance walkers. Daniel pulled out his rifle and looked at the walkers through the scope attached to the gun. There were a total of 3 walkers coming from the third floor of the house. Daniel put away the gun and started to crawl out of the house with pain running down his left leg. It was long until Daniel stopped in the street not too far from the house to take a rest for the pain in his leg to go away. He looked back at the house, and the walkers were not too far away from him.

_Am I going to die here? Man, a pizza sounds good before I die….._

Daniel took out the pistol and rifle and looked at how many bullets he had left. The pistol had no ammo in the magazine and the rifle had 1.

_One ammo left. Just great._

Daniel put back the magazine and aimed the rifle at the walker in the front. He shot his only bullet at the walker and the bullet tore apart the head. The body fell on the ground and the other two walkers stopped for a sec and continued to walk towards him.

_Damn no more ammo, I twisted my ankle, and there are two walkers coming at me while I am defenseless. I shouldn't have smoked that weed earlier. Is this the end?_

Daniel put down the guns and sat down on the ground with his legs crossed. He closed his eyes and waited for the walkers to come and finish him off. Suddenly, Daniel heard a gun fire from behind him and heard the sound of bodies falling to the ground. He opened his eyes and saw that the two walkers that were coming to kill him were on the floor with blood pouring out from their heads. Their heads were completely blown up from the shot. Daniel turned around to see the person who had just saved his life.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

**Several Hours Before Sam's Group Left…**

"They aren't going to come back for awhile. Stop worrying too much and come sit down Paul," said Joanne.

Paul looked out the window of the apartment one more time and slowly took a seat on the ground. Peter was lying down on the other side with a huge fever and sweats pouring down his face. Paul or the others did not even know how much time Peter had left before he turned into…. _one of them. _

"I hope they are ok out there. They shouldn't be outside looking for things until it gets dark. I think we should go look for them," said Paul anxiously.

"Paul, I get it that your little brother is out there, but just know that he is with Sam and Faith. Daniel should be fine with them," Joanne said as she wiped the sweat off of Peter's face. "What I am worried about is how much longer Peter has until he…."

"Turns into one of them."

"…..Yeah. What can we do to help him? I just don't want him to leave us like this."

"It was Peter's choice whether he wanted to go back to Philip or not. We will just have to do what is right when the time comes…."

"I guess so….."

Paul and Joanne sat there looking at Peter's sweaty face. His face looked like he was in so much pain. Sweats dripped down his face unstop, and he sometimes screamed in pain.

"It must be tough trying to fight back the virus that is trying to take over his mind," said Paul as he got up. "I don't think he will last much longer."

"Don't say things like that. Let's have faith that this will get better soon," said Joanne.

Paul walked out of the room and met Eddie and Andrew working on the last window that needed covering.

"You guys are working hard, thanks," said Paul as he walked out of the apartment.

"Welcome, but where are you going at this time? Sam and the others are already out there looking for things we could use," said Eddie as he hammered a nail.

"I'm going out there to look for them. They should have been back by now. It's getting too late now."

"That's true, but it's not very smart or safe to go out there by yourself," said Andrew.

"Don't worry about me and finish the work. If I call you with my phone, make sure you pick up."

"Ok…. just be careful out there. Like you said, it's getting late."

Paul walked out of the apartment and heard Eddie say to Andrew,

"I still think it's dangerous for Paul to go out there searching for them."

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Paul walked down to Daniel with a pistol in his hand. Paul put the gun away in his belt and came in front of Daniel.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with the others back at the apartment?" asked Daniel as he struggled to get to his feet.

Paul helped him up and said, "I would have been if you guys didn't make me worry so much. It's getting dark now. Where is Sam and Faith?"

Daniel couldn't look at Paul in the eyes. What was he going to tell him? Is he going to tell Paul that he doesn't know what happened to the two because he was busy smoking weed?

"Why aren't you answering my question? Where are they?"

"They….. I don't know what happened to them," said Daniel without looking at Paul's face. "I was separated from them because of a horde of walkers. I waited them out but was attacked by three other walkers while I was searching for useful things."

"You don't know where they are? Are you serious?"

"Yeah…. sorry."

Paul turned around and looked out at the road he took to get to Daniel. The sun was setting and time was running out for them to get back. They couldn't stay out here for much longer, they had to go back.

"Can you walk?" Paul asked.

"I don't know but I think I will be able to with your help."

"Ok, we have to get out of here before sun falls completely," said Paul as he put his arm around Daniel's left shoulder. "We will just have to hope that Sam and Faith will be safe until tomorrow when we could search for them."

Paul and Daniel started on their way back to the apartment before darkness filled the world completely.

**I guess that the end of the chapter. I thank all the readers who continue to read even though my writing is not that good. I hope you will continue to read and if you have any suggestions or ideas for me please PM me. Thank you so much!**


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